The Islamic Empires - The Mughal Empire (759-762)

(Islamic empire in North Africa!)

1. 1523- Zahir al-Din Muhammad

• Chagatai Turk- adventurer and soldier who claimed descent from Chinggis Khan and Tamerlane
• Also known as Babur
• Was unable to extend authority beyond Kabul and Zandahar, so he turned his attention to India
• Invasions he led- 1523 and 1525, and took Delhi in 1526
• Cared little for land he conquered: wanted to use wealth of India to build a vast Asian empire

2. Mughal- pesian term for Mongols

EW

• The Mughal Empire expanded to cover most of India
• The main architect of Mughal expansion was Babur's grandson Akbar
• Gained power in 1561 after killing imperial court commander
• Created a centralized government with ministries governing various provinces
• Worked to better relations between Muslims and Hindus in India
• Encouraged a syncretic religion called the "divine faith"
• It encouraged attention to the emperor as ruler for all groups of India

3. Mughal empire reached greatest extent under Aurangzeb

• Aurangzeb ruled from 1659-1707
• pushed Mughal authority deep into southern India
• By 18th century Mughals ruled all the subcontinent except for a small tip in the south
• delt with lots of rebellions
• religions tensions between Hindus and Muslims rose
• Aurangzeb was a devoted Muslims and to incourage conversion to Islam he destroyed several Hindu temples and replaced them with mosques
• also inforced taxes on Hindus